As of 01/10/2007, Blogger has completely moved to a new version of their system. If you are on MacOSX, please download version 2.4.2, which is also linked to in this blog's sidebar. Version 2.4.2 works with the new Blogger. I recommend setting up a new account in ecto for your Blogger Beta and using:

http://www.blogger.com/feeds/default/blogs

as the access point. That way you can copy over your older drafts without risking losing them. Note that you will have to use your Google login (the email and password you use to log into Blogger Beta).

Since my focus is on ecto3, I did not have time or feel the need to implement into ecto2 support for both Blogger Beta's Atom and it's proprietary authentication method and the older Atom 0.3, which that has different a format and authentication methods. ecto3 approaches blog system support differently and will not have this issue. If you require the old Atom support, please download ecto2atom03.dmg.

Version 2.4.2 also updates support for del.icio.us and fixes one bug with preview. This is the last bug fix release as I continue work on version 3. This work is progressing nicely, but since this is not my day-job, the speed of progress is not as fast as I would like it to be.

Since the full rewrite of ecto2 as ecto3 is taking its time, I have decided to release an intel build of ecto 2.4.1. It is not fully tested and no support will be provided, but it should be a good interim solution for those having trouble running the PPC version on intel Macs.

You can download the intel build as a 4.2Mb disk image and it's also linked to in this blog's sidebar. If you use Blogger Beta, use the patched version instead.

ecto 2.1 is now available for download here. The major features added to this update are Amazon search and additional settings for Upload Preset. This version also includes a number of important bug fixes, including a fix for the "Registration Error" issue. Please read the history.txt file for details.

Amazon SearchYou can now search Amazon from within ecto to add item details to your post, and you can customise how the item looks in your post using the template feature.

Thumbnail Upload PresetUpload Preset now includes thumbnail settings. When saving a preset, ecto remembers the thumbnail's width and automatically calculate the thumbnail height the preset is applied.

Some users report not being able to post to TypePad, seeing it return an error: "Wide character in subroutine entry at /usr/local/prod/cpan-lib/HTML/PullParser.pm line 83.". Apparently, TypePad engineers working on upgrading the TypePad code base have slipped in an error so that it cannot handle UTF8 characters anymore. The TypePad people are aware of it and working on a fix. In the meantime, there is a work-around. In ecto, open "Edit Settings..." under the Weblog menu. In the dialog that pops up, go to the Preprocessing tab and check "Encode HTML-entities". Once the bug is fixed in TypePad, you can toggle that setting back again.

UPDATE: I've been informed that TypePad will roll out a fix next week.

UPDATE: This has been fixed as of Friday, 19th, JST. You can turn off HTML-entity conversion again in ecto now that the unicode characters are recognized properly.

The ecto 2.0 is officially released and available for download! It has been a long development process, far longer than I anticipated or wished, but I think the result is pretty good. Although the application does not look much different outwardly, there are many code rewrite under the skins.

This upgrade is free for all registered users.

What's new

WYSIWYG editing.

Spellcheck as you type.

Upload caching and setting presets.

Find & Replace.

New installer which will automatic download and install the new .Net Framework 2.0 during ecto's installation if required.

Better font scaling for those who use the Large Fonts settings.

Many other UI improvement and bug fixes.

Known Issues

No 64bit XP support. The eSellerate code currently does not support 64bit Windows. ecto runs but will display error message when contacting the server and prevents post being sent or edited. An update will be released as soon as this issue is resolved.

For WindowBlinds users, with certain themes ecto will sometimes insert the background colour of the window as the post background.

Download & Installation

ecto 2 will use the existing data that 1.8.8 has. But to avoid potential conflict, it is recommended that 1.8.8 is first uninstalled before installing 2.0.

Finally, special thanks to all the beta testing users for donating time to test many beta and release candidate builds. Special mention must be given to Neville and Kelly who have gone above and beyond their duty as ecto users to make this release a polished one.

It has been just over a month ago that beta build of version 2.0 was released for public testing. During this period, I received lots of help in identifying bugs/issues, as well as receiving a lot of good suggestions.

Currently there are only two outstanding issues remain before 2.0 can become a general release. One is non-critical and has a workaround, while the other only occurs in some user machines. Unfortunately both issues are out of my control so I will give it another couple of days to see if I get the answers that I need. If not, I will release ecto 2.0 this week with those two outstanding issues and include the fixes in future updates as soon as I get the answers.

I have received many requests for an Intel build of ecto. I actually have one, but it is an unfinished major upgrade of ecto. In fact, I am rewriting quite a few components in ecto, adding several new (mostly user-requested) features, and for WYSIWYG editing I have also switched to editable WebKit (which is part of the engine that powers Safari). In addition, all image editing features that are in ecto2 have to be rewritten for the Intel build, since they depend on deprecated system code. This all will obviously take time, but it does not mean nothing is being done. In fact, I work on code almost daily. Not many people know that, although I work for Joichi Ito, I am doing all the work by myself. Only the Windows version of ecto is Alex Hung's responsibility. Unfortunately, there are some things that stop me from devoting time to the upgrade: I have had major thyroid surgery and am suffering from fatigue from low thyroid hormone levels (although that should be cured soon), I am also doing work on endo, I do some consulting, I spend a good portion of time on support issues, I have a family that I want to spend time with, and when possible I want some free time to play World of Warcraft, a game that my boss has hooked me up onto. ecto3 is happening, sooner than later. It takes a bit longer than you would expect from me given the history of frequent updates, but it would be reasonable to expect it this summer.

Blogger currently has a serious issue preventing users from logging in via blogging clients. They're working on a fix and knowing them, it'll be fixed sooner than later. More info can be found on the BloggerDev mailinglist. Please be patient while Blogger fixes the problem.

ecto is just too cool!! I've written a free little script that works in conjunction with Blojsom, so that you can Geo-Blog your individual blog entry with geographical locations in Google Earth! There is a whole load of free video tutorials to go with the script. If you fancy having a look just go to
http://confluence.rave.ac.uk/confluence/display/SCIRC/Geo-Blogging.

Now that I'm back from hospital and recovering, it would be a good time to pick a new ecto-powered blog of the week. Since I have a weakness for nice pixels, I'm awarding it to eboy.com. This group blog is run by a small group of four people based in Berlin. They create re-usable pixel objects from which they build complex and extensible artwork. The blog comes with many nice illustrations. I should pick up snowboarding again...

To purchase a copy of ecto, visit the eSellerate online store or click on the image below. A registration code will be sent shortly after the purchase is completed. You can also use PayPal in this store.

A copy of ecto costs $17.95. We also offer volume discounts and if you purchase a copy for MacOSX, you can purchase one for Windows for 50% off (and vice versa, obviously).